Small cap newsbeat

Shares in Irish oil and gas exploration company Tuskar Resources jumped as much as 50 5 on Friday after two hefty trades in the stock. Tuskar shares traded up 0.85 pence or 36.6 5 higher at 1341, off their earlier highs at 3.75p on volume of 111 million traded, a 20-month record. The company announced a contract with Oslo-based Acker Geophysical on Wednesday for further exploration in a part of Nigeria the group said had the potential to contain more than one billion barrels of recoverable oil. T.Hoare Canaccord research analyst Charlie Sharp expressed surprise at Tuskar's gains while noting two chunky trades of about 50 million shares each at midday. Sharp said Tuskar's Obe field was producing ahead of projections, putting fair value for the company at about 2.5 pence a share on a discounted cash flow basis.

Gains of 28 5 and above in the top five FTSE Small Cap companies helped drive the index to a fresh record of 3,315.10, up 17.4 points or 0.5 5 by 1431 GMT.

These included Hampton Trust, whose shares surged after the British government approved its Arena Central development in Birmingham, to include the construction of Britain's tallest skyscraper. By 1347, the stock had climbed six pence or 40 5 to a new year high of 21p after the approval of the 14-acre, 350 million pound ($559 million) project in the centre of the city.

Shares in Stanelco, whose subsidiaries include a manufacturer of high frequency thermal processing equipment, jumped as much as 60 5 amid Internet bulletin board chatter about a possible deal with a major telecoms company. Dealers said talk on infoex.hemscott.com and elsewhere, coupled with the lack of liquidity in the issue, helped Stanelco rise to 6-3/8 pence by 1400 up 2-1/8p or 49 5.

Another significant gainer was general insurer Cox Insurance Holdings, which said it had agreed to provide a range of services on the popular Yahoo! UK and Ireland portal with insure.co.uk, Cox's online brand. Cox shares leapt 47p or 29 5 to 210 pence by 1405, off their earlier peak, on light volume of 300,000.

Oxford GlycoSciences posted similar gains after announcing that it was tapping a resurgent biotechnology market by raising £33.2 million , net of expenses, via a share placing and open offer. The news sent OGS shares soaring 28 5 to a record £23.60 by 1420 valuing the company at nearly 870 million pounds. The stock was trading at just over five pounds in early January.

The leading loser was coffee roaster Coburg, whose shares dropped 40 5 to 8.5 pence after a statement by Executive Chairman Konrad Legg reiterating January remarks that he knew of no reason for the recent dramatic rise in the company's stock price.